Alberta's education system is buckling under intense pressure as classrooms swell with 30-40 students and rising incidents of aggression create unsustainable working conditions for teachers, according to a newly released government report.
System Operating in Crisis Mode
The long-awaited aggression and complexity report, released on Friday, paints a stark picture of schools operating in what educators describe as crisis mode. The document comes five months after the 25-member government-appointed action team was formed in June to address growing concerns about classroom conditions.
Education and Childcare Minister Demetrios Nicolaides and Premier Danielle Smith now face mounting pressure to implement solutions after the province forced teachers back to work on October 27 using the notwithstanding clause. The government had promised this report would inform how the class size and complexity cabinet committee moves forward.
Multiple Challenges Overwhelming Schools
The comprehensive report identified five critical challenge areas threatening the stability of Alberta's education system. These include growing student complexity, reactive school environments, emotional exhaustion among educators, insufficient professional training, and significant gaps in relationships between schools and families.
Through extensive engagement conducted from July to September, the Action Team conducted in-person and virtual meetings with education stakeholders, frontline staff, various organizations and families across the province. Their findings confirm that student aggression represents a deeply multifaceted challenge rooted in a complex web of individual, social, and systemic influences.
Professional specialists including occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists and psychologists are raising alarms about the increasing number of children with complex needs entering the school system, further complicating classroom dynamics.
Language Barriers Adding to Complexity
At a Friday press conference, Premier Danielle Smith highlighted preliminary data showing a surge in English language learners arriving at later grades, creating additional strain on an already overwhelmed system.
If you end up with having more kids in the classroom who don't speak English than do and they're coming at later and later grades, the system is kind of broken, Smith stated. She suggested that specialized English language learning classes might be necessary before integrating these students into mainstream classrooms.
The concerns about increased aggression in schools are not new. In December 2023, the Alberta Teachers' Association conducted a survey where educators reported increased incidents of aggression from both parents and students, indicating the problem has been building for months.
With classrooms containing 30-40 students with severe cases of complexity becoming increasingly common, addressing this crisis has become the most immediate priority for Alberta's education system.
